Writing in Khuzdul, while not transcribing it in Latin characters but using the proper runes can be a big challenge, especially given the fact that most runic fonts seem to have the character mappings wrong. Meaning that if you type “a” you do not get the rune that should match with “a”.

The challenges don’t stop there sadly, seeing there are not one but several forms of dwarvish runes.

In addition one rune could be two letters in Latin script, so that if one were to make a font that allows you to type in dwarvish, it would need to make a distinction between a rune that combines two latin characters and a rune that is only one latin character (for instance, “sh”, “s”, and “h” are three different runes).

So, with all of the above in mind, I set to work on a new font and created one myself, so that you (and others like you with the same need) can write Dwarvish with greater ease.

Note: To use this font with Android or iOS on your phone or tablet you may need third party software that will allow the usage of non-standard fonts (there are several available that will allow that, some good ones for only a few dollars). To be clear, I am currently NOT developing an app for Android or iOS, as such this font was made with Windows and MacOS in mind.

Firstly, this font is for Angerthas Moria (though an Angerthas Erebor version is planned to be created in future).

Seeing that all forms of (neo-)Khuzdul runic script do not have capital letters these were used for specific runic characters.

Active Capital letters:

A, E, I, O and U are used to write the long Dwarvish vowels, being: “â”, “ê”, “î”, “ô” and “û”.

G, K, S and T are used to write the Dwarvish “gh”, “kh”, “sh” and “th”.

N is used to write the Dwarvish geminated n, being “nn”.

D and J are used to write the Dwarvish “nd” and “nj” (Note: for “nj” also “ñ” or “Ñ” can be used)

C and P are in fact place holders for the Angerthas Erebor character set “ts” and “ps” – in this font they are written out in their Angerthas Moria counterparts.

meaning that the phrase “Baruk Khazâd.” should be typed as:

To end up correctly as…

Non-Active Capital letters:

The following capital letters are NOT used in this font. Hence, when you would type: B, F, H, L, M, Q, R, V, W, X, Y or Z (in capitals) you will not get a rune but the Latin character (and the font should revert to a Latin character font).

Active lower letters:

a, e, i, o and u are used for the shortened vowel only (for long vowels use the Capital version).

p, v and x are also active, though not part of the (neo-)Khuzdul own alphabet they may be used for words derived from other languages or non-native names and represent “p”, “v” and “ks” respectively in this script.

Non-Active lower letters:

q is the only lower letter character that is NOT active in this font. Hence, when you type “q” you will not get a rune but the Latin character (and the font should revert to a Latin character font).

Digits: 0 to 9 have been included (clearly marking them with a dot below the rune to indicate they are indeed numbers and not letters).

Reading signs: The vast majority of reading signs have been activated (ampersand, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation mark, left and right parenthesis, etc…. Most of these runes are inventions, yet some (like ampersand, space and period) are original runes.

$, € and £ symbols are used to indicate copper, silver and gold coins respectively. Here new runes were invented.

à, ò and ù are all characters (both in lower and Capital versions) that can be used to write the open-mid back unrounded vowel or caret – More information on the caret here

è (both in lower and Capital version) can be used to write the mid central vowel sound or schwa. Note: the schwa is usually omitted in writing – more information on this here.

Further notes on writing runes:

Don’t forget that (neo-)Khuzdul does not have capital letters, in fact the usage of capitals in this font has a different purpose (see above).

In order to write a proper line one must ensure you START each line with a period (.) This will give you the characteristic look familiar for dwarvish runes. You end each line with the reading sign required (period, question mark, exclamation mark, etc…)

The font is a “TrueType” font file, so any computer system that can read this type should be compatible.

This font was made with FontStruct and is packaged in .zip files together with a license document and a ‘read me’ document. The font file needs to be extracted from this .zip file so you can install it. You will find some excellent general information on installing fonts here – just note that all users, including users of OSX, will download their fonts in .zip format. Once installed you should find it listed among your fonts (restart may be required).

Brewing ale has always been a passion of mine. Yet for many years it was only something that happened in books for me, and occasionally via some sort of home-brewing-kit, usually (and to my despair) with foul-tasting results. The dream I had of brewing a “dwarvish” ale seemed like it would never happen.

Luckily I live in Belgium, a country filled to the brim with sensational breweries and top-notch brewers. So, one day, while “sampling” ales with a few friends at a local pub, I met a one-of-a-kind brewer, who would not only teach me much more than any book on brewing ever had, but liked my idea of brewing a “dwarvish” ale.

When we discussed in great detail what this “dwarvish” ale would taste like we eventually came to a passage in The Hobbit which became our flavors list.

“Some called for ale, and some for porter, and one for coffee, and all of them for cakes . . . A big jug of coffee had just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone, and the dwarves were starting on a round of buttered scones . . . ‘And raspberry jam and apple-tart,’ said Bifur. // … ‘And more cakes — and ale — and coffee, if you don’t mind,’ called the other dwarves through the door.” – An Unexpected Party, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

For us the above piece left little argument that the Dwarves had a sweet tooth for cakes and anything fruity. Hence we decided the ale should have just such flavors. While ensuring we also made it heavy on the burnt malt and alcohol flavors; which is a link to the old Norse Dwarves where Tolkien got quite a bit of his inspiration.

Ending up with a cross between a Stout and a Belgian Trappist… which we named Durin!

Durin! – Front label

By now you are likely wondering, what about this “return” and “contest” you’ve mentioned in the title of this article. Well, seeing that Durin! is a non-profit exclusive sample product, never to be sold, I occasionally hand it out to select friends and benefactors.

The time has come to once again hand it out, this time in the form of a dwarvish literary contest via tumblr. If you wish to win yourself a selection* of Durin!, sent to your home, have a look at the below contest rules.

* I say “selection” here because I know it can be difficult to ship alcohol to specific countries, and some countries have limits of what can be sent. But you can be sure that I will again aim to provide what I can and won’t be stingy.

Durin! Back label

Competition rules

The written content must be an original short story, poem, haiku or similar art form, written in English and/or (Neo-)Khuzdul*, and is no longer than 500 words.

The written content must be set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth and must be related to the topic of “ale” in some way.

Content can only be entered by posting it on tumblrand tagging it with #Durin! (you can add as many other tags as you like too, as long as this one is in there).

Pictures or drawings of any kind are not allowed, only text.

Writers are allowed to post as many entries as they see fit.

The contest starts NOW (april 25th 2016) and is open to all that have a tumblr account (takes two minutes and is very easily done if you don’t have one yet).

Writers have until Tuesday 31st of May 2016 to post their content via tumblr.

Once posted you may alter your posted text, yet content will be considered final on Tuesday 31st of May.

All entries will be reviewed between 31st of May and June 5th.

The winner of the contest will be revealed on Sunday June 5th 2016.

**You are free to write it entirely in English if you wish, or entirely in Neo-Khuzdul, or a mix of both (one line of Neo-Khuzdul is fine as well for instance). The Neo-Khuzdul version used must be that which can be found via this blog.

Note: seeing that the prize of this competition contains alcohol this directly means that all writers entering this competition must in fact be of the legal age (in their country of residence) to drink beer.

Other than the above mentioned “rules” I don’t wish to constrain anyone’s creativity.
I look forward to reading your stories, poems and the likes.

Many people have asked me over the past year or so to translate the Dwarvish lines spoken in the Battle of the Five armies movie. Though it took a tremendous amount of time to translate these (for the simple reason that there is no transcript available, nor are some of these lines pronounced very clearly either) I’ve made an attempt at it here:

This is my personal interpretation of these lines spoken in the Battle of the Five Armies film, based on all the knowledge available to me.

Further information on each translated line:

1) “Yanâd Durinul”, (Sons of Durin) from David Salo’s [YND] birth/son, as in “ênâd” (birth) – Ereb. Khuzdul: “Yand” (son), “Yanâd” (sons). This meaning will be added shortly to the updated Neo-Khuzdul dictionaries. “Durinul”, meaning “of Durin” is the Possessive Descriptive/Lineage marker as seen in “Balin Fundinul” (Balin, son “of Fundin”)

2) “Ihgirî ni-hun!” (Go right into them) I consider this line the most doubtful of all, as I have mixed feelings about the radicals used in the first word (it isn’t quite clearly pronounced unfortunately). After much consideration I went with the listed translation. Reason for this is that [HGR] is used in my Neo-Khuzdul for “right, to go right”. Ni is attested as “in” in Salo’s Neo-Khuzdul, while “hun” is the logical plural of “hu” (he/it), making it “them” (a colloquial masculine/neuter alternative for the more formal “izd”).

7) “Rakân, bekâr!” (Rows (lines), weapons!) – Though “bekâr” is attested (arms, weapons), “rakân” is not, yet is seems logical that this word means “rows” or “lines”. It takes the plural structure CaCâC as seen in many Neo-Khuzdul noun types. Furthermore the radicals [RKN] seems to link to the consonants found in the Proto-Germanic *rai(h)waz, meaning “row”. This meaning will be added shortly to the updated Neo-Khuzdul dictionaries.

8) “Ai-rusê” (Upon the filth!). This was a tricky one to say the least, again as the pronunciation is far from clear. “ai-” is from Tolkien’s original “aya”, as seen in “ai-mênu” (upon them). “rusê” is from the radicals [RSY] from Proto-Germanic *drohs- (dirt, dregs), using the CuCaC form, as seen in the original Tolkien “duban”, forming “rusay”, which becomes “rusê” through monophthongization. This meaning will be added shortly to the updated Neo-Khuzdul dictionaries.

9) “Idmi d’dum” (Welcome to the Hall). A novel way of welcoming someone to say the least. “Idmi” is the singular imperative form of “to welcome”, using the same radicals as seen in the word “dum” (mansion, hall). “d’ ” is the syncopated form of “du”, meaning “to”. While “dum”, is original Tolkien Khuzdul, as seen in “Khazad-dûm” (mansions of the dwarves, Dwarrowdelf).

10) See 5

11) “Khazâd ai-mênu!!” (The Dwarves are upon you) – Original Khuzdul by J.R.R. Tolkien, second half of the famous battle-cry as uttered by Gimli during the Battle of the Hornburg.

12) Singular form as seen in 2. Note: It is hard to tell if Billy Connolly utters a “hg” or “k”, this may have been “Ikrid ni-hu”, which would translate as “believe (trust) in him (it)!”, this may refer to either Durin, Thorin or even their weapons. May very well apply to the translation in line two as well.

Khuzdul is the language of the Dwarvesin J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium set in Middle-earth. For these Neo-khuzdul/Khuzdul translations both the original Tolkien material and David Salo’s Neo-Khuzdul have been used.

This is my personal interpretation of these lines spoken in tBotFA film, I do not claim this content to be canon, nor do I claim ownership of any material.

This video is an interpretation of Tolkien’s work and any Khuzdul related material, all rights are reserved for their proper owners. Any reference to any brand name is not meant to claim ownership of material.

Footage from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition, Courtesy of Warner Bros, all rights reserved.

It is with great pride and excitement I can announce that I will be one of the judges at the first ever Tolkien Language Haiku Contest on Middle-Earth News, as part of the Tolkien Week celebrations.

Professor J.R.R. Tolkien

As Middle-Earth finds its origins in the languages created by Professor J. R. R. Tolkien, I find this contest a truly unique way to honor Tolkien’s passion for languages, which in turn sparked a similar passion in my own heart.

Some time ago, during the Midsummer Moot haiku contest, by Middle-Earth News, I entered a haiku in Neo-Khuzdul. To my surprise it won the contest. Seeing that I wasn’t in it to win anything though (truth be told I just wanted to try my hand at another Neo-Khuzdul haiku and had no idea there were prizes involved), I decided to suggest to Middle-earth News they could perhaps use these wonderful prizes for a new haiku contest. To my joy they agreed.

I’ll be joined by my good friend dreamingfifi (of realelvish.net), an expert in Tolkien’s elvish languages.

It’s good to know that the contest not only allows for Tolkien’s original languages and the constructed languages based on these (such as Neo-Khuzdul), but is also allows real word languages (such as Old English, Old Norse or Gothic) used by Tolkien to render his imaginary languages (Rohirric, Dalish, etc..).

The winner will receive a canvas art print by artist Joe Gilronan. The winner may choose any painting from the collection (and they are stunning!). And if that wasn’t enough a lovely book too: “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles: Cloaks and Daggers.”

I look forward to judging your entries my friends, have fun creating that original haiku!

Here’s the short version for those eager to get started in all that is new.

Quite a few people have been very appreciative about the dictionaries (and thank you for that my friends), but let’s face, I’ve made them very large… as a result, almost impossible to use with ease.

The main reason I have chosen to include all declensions and conjugations was merely to ensure fan-fiction writers would have all the words at their finger tips.

When I hear however that most people have tremendous difficulty using these large documents, it means I need to provide another solution, something faster, something easier to use and something that might even assist in the building of sentences.

Hence…

DS Neo-Khuzdul Translation Tool

This tool will allow anyone (with Microsoft Excel) and basic knowledge of Neo-Khuzdul to create their own lines in Neo-Khuzdul.

Word of warning though… this is a language tool, it’s not Google Translate (without being too critical about Google Translate, maybe that’s not a bad thing). What I mean is that you still need to have some basic understanding about Neo-Khuzdul to use it. Word order for instance is determined by the user, not the tool.

If you are looking for a magical tool that will translate not only words, but also set the perfect word-order, while taking into account all possible conjugational forms and nuances this may very well disappoint. If however you are familiar with Neo-Khuzdul, have tried your hand at translations in the past, but find the dictionaries cumbersome and not fast enough to work with… then you’ll likely be pleased with this tool.

Some things to take into account when using:

You must enable macros when using the excel, or it will NOT work (Tools, Macro, Security, Enable all)

The excel contains over 200.000 search values, it is recommended to close other applications while running it to ensure the search goes faster. Slower systems might have a bigger impact due to this.

When searching for words, try to be specific. For instance, if you are searching for the word “win”, it is best to look for “to win” if you are looking for a conjugated form of the verb or “win ” (with a space) if you are looking for the noun “the win”. Doing so will exclude words like “wind, wine, wink, swing, twine, etc..”, making the search faster.

Final translations in English use standards forms, not indicating the personal forms (for instance: “to drink”, instead of “he drinks”). This is meant to be this way, the personal form after all is selected in the” construct page”.

The tool itself has a handy (yet concise) step-by-step on how to use it.

Before creating this tool I had to update the dictionaries, including several support documents. You’ll find those usual place HERE

Now, the long version… or in other words, what has changed/been added exactly.

Below, in Italics is a list of the changes/additions made to the dictionaries:

Direct changes:Added Past Participle Perfect / Present Participle“Familiar FORM” now correctly called “disrespectful (contemptuous) FORM”changed ending of imperative plural from “i” to “î” in tri-radical roots (was already present in bi-radical roots)“ayi” changes to “ê” in compoundsadded many new radicals based on recently released information from David Salochanged “portent” from “SD” to “NTHN” radicalchanged “shard” from “KRK” to “KFK” radicalchanged type 10 3-radical plural from “CaCâC” to “aCaCâC” – including construct state (aCaCuC)changed type 15 3-radical plural from “aCaCâC” to “aCâCaC” – including construct state (aCâCuC)added “ay” to “ê” crasis on type 15 plurals and singular and plurals in the constructed form.changed HRN to SHRG radicals for “lie”changed “trust” from KRT to KRD, and “beat” from KRD to KRT, added “drum” to KRTadded duzu./duzi and d’zu./d’zi. in pronounscrasis for “w”-combinations establishedadded causative form (including causative transitive)changed “lift (rise)” from “TRZ” to “_LZ”.added “to grow” and “to cultivate” to MHL verb of “to raise”added SHRD, as “to swing”added “brother” to KhRM (kinsmen) – in addition to keeping brother NDDchanged “treason” from HFR to ShNKh“To be” documentation added (verb “tati”)added adjective type 11 (related to volume, density, substance, resistance or mass) “sherek”, and ul-type clarified (+ document on adjectives)added plural adjective formschanged “wife” to “partner” and used derived noun forms (-ûn/-ûna,…) for “wife, husband, etc..”.updated document 21 (usage of “-ul” and “-u”) to include “-im-“changed “swoon” from “DRB” to “DRD”removed “stop” from “‘KhZ” and added to “DRB”added “ThMR” for “retreat”, removed “retreat” from “NNK”added “yîr” and “tîr” as alternatives for “there”changed “yonder” to “yonder place”added “bi” as alternative for “from”added “zû” as alternative for “now”clarified the difference between “alarm (feeling)”, linked to and “alarm (device)”merged “dawn” and “morning”, added “alarm (device)” to BKNadded “sighted” as adjectiveremoved “to watch” and “to keep watch” from “to see”, and added to “TRD”removed “to summon” from “ThHR” and added as causative to “to come”added “bikûr” and “dukûr” as “whence” and “whither”.added new document conserning interrogative words.changed “KLT” from “sound” to “hearing” and added “ZMR” as “sound (noise)”changed “forget” from “GBY” to “NThR”added “iy” to “î” crasischanged “burn” from “MHR”, to “RSR”, which was in fact an initial mistake from myself as it always was meant to be “RSR” (linked to ‘urs which is “fire”).added “KBR” as EredM. for “beast”changed “aim” to “shooting at” and added “to aim” along with “target” as “TLZ” (from the Gothic “tila” – to aim)formed type 26 EredM. to accomodate “kobor” as a new form.

Adapted concepts:I had rather a challenge with Salo’s “gelekh” meaning “occasion (time)”. The CeCeC is a pattern I’ve always used for non-metal materials [like Tolkien’s “glass” (kheled)].So, this meant I had to accept this concept as being a non-metalic fabric. I normally would have gone with aCCâC for this kind of abstract words [like Tolkien’s “language” (aglâb)]Eventually, after thinking long and hard about this, I accepted this concept as being “a moment in the -fabric- of time”, hence accepted the CeCeC pattern.I could however not accept the G-L-Kh radicals, seeing that I had already used them for a different (rather prominent) concept (“good”,”well”, etc..).Hence I purposely changed Salo’s GLKh to GLK in my neo-Khuzdul version.It was one of the only Salo’s concepts I was unable to fit in directly as is.

Another concept I didn’t directly adopt, was “YBTh” for “weave”, as I had “BBN” which came from a mix between the Old High German “weban” and “vefur” (both “web”)Reason for this is that “YBTh”, used for “spider”, could have a second meaning in my version as “young crawler”, also meaning “spider”.So I found there was no direct reason to change it. I had thought about changing it to “YBTh”, but was in the end more pleased with the structure of incarnates then an entirely invented structure (CêCiC).

Also, the Neo-Khuzdul/English dictionary has now been sorted based on the alphabetic order of the Neo-Khuzdul radicals (much like dictionary word order in other Semitic languages).

Remember I spoke about a tool for LotRO Dwarf RPers, allowing them to speak Dwarvish with the click of a button (or two)…. well, without further ado, I present to you:

The Neo-Khuzdul Tool LotRO plugin

The Neo-Khuzdul Tool plugin is an vital tool for LotRO Dwarf RP-ers that wish to immerse themselves in the language of dwarves (without the need to plough through dictionaries or grammar documents).

Background

The Neo-Khuzdul Tool plugin was long a wish of mine, ever since I first started giving Neo-Khuzdul lessons in Lotro. As I felt there had to be an easier way for dwarf RPers to speak the language of their kind.

Back in February this year I got in touch with Simbo, the hobbit who created the fantastic Poetical tool I frequently used for my dwarf RP. I pitched this idea to him about a plugin for dwarf RPers, that would assist the RPer in speaking Neo-Khuzdul. To my astonishment he jumped on board and before I knew a first version was ready to be tested.

Without the hard work of Simbo, there simply would not be such a plugin… and it would likely still have been an unfulfilled wish of mine. So there you go, proof again that Dwarves need Hobbits when it matters!

A tremendous thank you to Simbo from myself and (I’m sure) the Dwarf RP-community of Lotro.

About the translations.

The latest updated material and dictionaries have been used to form the content of this tool.

Khuzdul is the language of the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium set in Middle-earth. For this Neo-khuzdul Tool plugin both the original Tolkien material, David Salo’s Neo-Khuzdul and Khuzdul used in Turbine’s LoTRO have been used. This is my personal interpretation of Tolkien’s dwarven language, I do not claim this content to be canon. This document is an interpretation of Tolkien’s work and any Khuzdul related material, all rights are reserved for their proper owners. Any reference to The Lord of the Rings Online or any other brand name is not meant to claim ownership of material.

In most cases I have opted for informal language, though in many translations found in this tool you will find both formal and informal versions.

How to install?

Drop the “Simbo” folder in your Lord of the Rings Online “plugins” folder. In case you already have a plugin by Simbo (which you really should have to be honest), you’ll have to drop the contents of it into the already existing Simbo folder.

How to use?

Simbo has really done his best to make the tool as user friendly as possible and I think he has done a brilliant job at that.

When you get started there are a few things to keep in mind.

Always think WHO you are speaking to, and ensure you select the proper “target audience” In English the pronoun “you” can be used for males, females, individuals or groups, not so in Khuzdul, where you have several forms. Hence it is important you always select the proper target audience in the tool before you press the “speak” button, otherwise your given translation may be incorrect.

Some lines mention (m) or (f), this indicates the line is speaking about a male or female (or intended for a male or female)

Some lines contain a field “___” to enter a name, feel free to type what you wish to say in the designated box.

Ensure you have the right channel selected “say, kinship, fellowship or raid”.

This tool is meant for mature RPers that have an affinity with lore, as such please take into account that Khuzdul was spoken among Dwarves ONLY (with the exception of place names and battle cries). It goes without saying that this is not to be used for spamming your fellow RPers.

Future?

Let’s see how this works out for everyone first…

Though I can already tell you that the Neo-Khuzdul Tool might in the months to come get an Elvish sister (oooh, exciting stuff but -hush- don’t tell anyone yet!)

Also, some of the saying might not be very clear at first glance, hence in a future version of the plugin you will be getting a little “extra information” box (that you’ll be able to show or hide) with some extra need-to-know info about these lines.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is recommended to remove the previous plugin version before updating to this version.

A tremendous thank you again to Grunior for his enormous efforts in translating the existing plugin phrases to German and for spending much of his time on testing the new update.

UPDATE: Version 1.2 (17/09/2015)

Adds “filter” search box (As requested by many users. We hope this will benefit the user when looking for lines in categories with lots of phrases in it. Merely type in the box and only phrases containing the filter text will be listed)

Fixed issue with “hide” and “toggle”

Added French and German commands for “/say”, “/f” and “/k” (note: translation are still in English, not in French or German, this however allows usage on French or German clients)*

“Show Info” button has been moved below the phrases, this to ensure there would be no confusion with the new “filter” search box.

Translations added and placed in more accurate groups.

UPDATE: Version 1.1

Adds “extra information” button

Translations added and placed in more accurate groups.

Short video of the updated plugin:

Disclaimers

Some things to note:

The plugin has not been tested with the German and French client of LotRO. At present it is only available in English, yet other versions can be made (those interested in translating the English text to German or French, don’t hesitate to let us know).

The plugin-in should actually work on a Mac.

The plugin has however only been tested in Windows 7 and 8. If you run into problems with other operating systems, please let us know.

Let us know what you think!

How does the tool work for you? Does it work in your RP sessions? Are there bugs, are there suggestions for improvements? Please let us know! Just add your reply to this post and we’ll be sure to follow it up.

As some of you may have noticed, David Salo (the linguist responsible for the Neo-Khuzdul in the Hobbit movies) has recently released (and continues to do so) much of his notes related to these films on his wonderful site midgardsmal.

Though the vast majority of these notes is in line with the structures and patterns used in the version of Neo-Khuzdul I have worked on, I believe some adaptations need to be made.

Hence, I wanted to let you all know that in the weeks to come, an updated version of the dictionaries and support documents will be released (update is already in full swing).

Seeing that I wish to focus my available time on this in the weeks to come some translations requests have been put on hold. I do hope all will appreciate that requests and questions will be answered at the earliest convenience once the updated material has been released.

At the same time an excel tool will be made available (frequently requested) that should facilitate the searching of words in the dictionaries.

And lastly, a very talented hobbit friend of mine is currently developing a LUA plugin for LoTRO, aimed at dwarf-RPers, that will enable these players to speak Neo-Khuzdul in game, with just a few clicks of their mouse button. We are in the testing phase now and are updating and adding the various translations.